JONES bass, England.

[FunkyDude]

https://www.jonesbasses.com/

 

I recently came across this and I know it's a clone on the "you know what" basses but I think Mark Jones, the luthier, is heading in the right direction.

IMHO, there is nothing wrong in cloning. Sadowsky, Mike Lull, James Tyler, Suhr, Overwater etc etc.

 

The craftsmanship on the basses seem to be very nice. Best of all, it's Made In England.

 

Just wondering if anyone has tried out these basses. There isn't much information or review on the Internet.

 

Merry Christmas ALL!

[Sandypjb]

Had a look on their site - Incredible craftsmanship on display.

[Russ]

Mark's moved away from the Ken Smith tribute thing and has revised his shapes to make them a bit more original. They've got a little bit more of a Jaydee vibe now, to my eyes. He's also using multicoil pickups and a filter preamp in most of his basses now, so they're just as much a Wal tribute as a Smith one! 

 

Lovely instruments though. Looking forward to seeing more. 

Edited December 24, 2024 by Russ

[FunkyDude]

19 minutes ago, Russ said:

Mark's moved away from the Ken Smith tribute thing and has revised his shapes to make them a bit more original. They've got a little bit more of a Jaydee vibe now, to my eyes. He's also using multicoil pickups and a filter preamp in most of his basses now, so they're just as much a Wal tribute as a Smith one! 

 

Lovely instruments though. Looking forward to seeing more. 

Yeah, it's a good move to steer away from a total clone of a well known one. Not too sure how the filter preamp works though. Is it like a fixed tone, pre EQ thingy?

 

[tubbybloke68]

Look very impressive! My wallet’s trying to creep away to a safe dark corner …

[itu]

Playing SMs need quite a reach. Strap is attached to approx 16th fret in model 1 and even further away in the model 2. Not the most ergonomic approach for a half position player. Surely nice for a soloist.

[NickA]

The filter pre is a high pass for each pickup, but the variable Q turns the high pass into something like a band pass with the gain lifted at the pass frequency.

 

On a Wal you only get no lift and " some" lift, on an acg-eq-01 you have an infinitely variable lift.  This  "Jones" bass has 2x levels of lift.  That raised Q Also does weird things with the phases of the signals from the pickups making a kind of chorus effect.  Hardly ever use it on my Wal in public tbh, fun at home tho.

[Bevan7]

I’ve been Jonesing for one of these for a while. Will get one when I win the lottery 😁

[FunkyDude]

2 hours ago, Bevan7 said:

I’ve been Jonesing for one of these for a while. Will get one when I win the lottery 😁

I missed out on the 20% Black Friday sale. Let's see if there is a Boxing Day/ New Year sale coming up or not! 😑

[Bassassin]

Craftsmaship notwithstanding, those are some shockingly ugly basses.

[Killerfridge]

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

Craftsmaship notwithstanding, those are some shockingly ugly basses.

I've only just come around to the look of Ken Smiths, and these look like they've got a bit of Fodera Imperial in their blood too. I'm not sure I like the combination, but I wonder if given time I couldn't be convinced 

[OliverBlackman]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Craftsmaship notwithstanding, those are some shockingly ugly basses.

I didn’t want to be the one to say it 😆

[franzbassist]

8 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

I didn’t want to be the one to say it 😆

Nor did I. Close up shots look amazing, full body images not so much...

 

[FunkyDude]

9 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

I've only just come around to the look of Ken Smiths, and these look like they've got a bit of Fodera Imperial in their blood too. I'm not sure I like the combination, but I wonder if given time I couldn't be convinced 

I know what you mean about Ken Smith basses. It is totally KEN SMITH, in person. If anyone have communicated with him before will know what I mean! Used to dislike the look of it but it kinda grow on you though. 😅

[FunkyDude]

6 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

Nor did I. Close up shots look amazing, full body images not so much...

 

I agree the SM1, full-body one looks as though it needs to be on a diet! I wouldn't say it's ugly though. Just different. The SM2 looks a lot better IMO. 

[Killerfridge]

5 hours ago, FunkyDude said:

I agree the SM1, full-body one looks as though it needs to be on a diet! I wouldn't say it's ugly though. Just different. The SM2 looks a lot better IMO. 

That "fatness" is the Fodera Imperial influences (I think anyway) 

 

[Killerfridge]

The more I look at them, the more they are growing on me...

[OliverBlackman]

2 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

The more I look at them, the more they are growing on me...

They remind me of these characters:

[itu]

2 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

*Shivers*

A good looking and single cut are contradictory terms. And this blond looks puffy.

[Russ]

4 minutes ago, itu said:

*Shivers*

A good looking and single cut are contradictory terms. 

I beg to differ. 

 

My Sei is gorgeous. That hairy bloke playing it in the pic, maybe a bit less so.  

[FunkyDude]

4 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

That "fatness" is the Fodera Imperial influences (I think anyway) 

 

Hmm, think you're right. This one needs to put on a diet too! 🤣

[FunkyDude]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

I beg to differ. 

 

My Sei is gorgeous. That hairy bloke playing it in the pic, maybe a bit less so.  

Yup, never seen a bad Sei. I have a Flamboyant 5 and it's totally awesome! 

[franzbassist]

If we're talking good looking singlecuts, my Franz Sirius is a tasty bass.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2024 by franzbassist

[Misdee]

I wish this chap all the best with this venture, but those  SM1;basses don't half look like older Ken Smith basses, with a bit of Fodera in the headstock shape. The SM2 slightly less so, but still fairly derivative. Knowing Ken Smith's reputation for being forthright with his opinions, I expect if he sees them he won't be happy.

 

On both models the top horn of the body looks to stop well short of the 12th fret. That makes me think the balance on a strap might not be so great, and the reach to the nut with the fretting hand would be quite a stretch. 

 

Anyhow, they look beautifully built, and it's about time fancy woodwork basses came back into fashion. I'd love to hear one of these basses in action.

[itu]

4 hours ago, Russ said:

That hairy bloke playing it in the pic, maybe a bit less so.  

You are just modest, my dear bass playing fellow.